«I will have to abandon Eden.»
Télé 7 Jours, 1989	Home   Cette page en Français

Eden is in paradise... in Paris. On temporary time-off from Santa Barbara, Marcy Walker shoots an episode of Perry Mason, but also celebrates the thousandth episode of the TF1 soap. On the cake, five candles, for each year of shooting but, on the part she cut for us, she only put one. She has a thought for Taylor, who will be one year old on February 3rd, and who doesn't accompany them in Paris, and the man of her life, Stephen Collins. There, she sees him little, because of the shooting. This explains the rumors of her departure from the show.

Are you going to leave Santa Barbara ?

My contract ends in August 1990. I have to question myself, as well as A Martinez, who plays one of the leading roles, and who has just shot a movie with Meryl Streep. We played the same characters for five years (exactly since July 1984). They became like a sister or a brother for us, and even more, a kind of double that sometimes we love, sometimes we hate. It's a kind of disease, which affects all the soaps actors who play, for a long time, the same character and that the viewers identify as him.

Santa Barbara enabled you to be known around the world...

All the letters and friendship expressions we receive - and many come from France - make us hesitate, but the shootings are very testing. I leave home at 6 in the morning, I go back at 8 p.m., and I have to learn the lines for the next day. Some days it's difficult, especially when I read the disappointment on Taylor's face – in spite of his age he is very expressive. But when I find the atmosphere of the studio, I say to myself that it will be time to make a decision two months before renewing my contract.

There is a real friendship atmosphere in the Santa Barbara team.

All the actors, and even those who have smaller roles, are very close to each other. With A Martinez, it goes further. He is helpless when he plays with another actress other than me. There is no ambiguity here. Our friendship - and it is only friendship - is very well accepted by A Martinez's wife, as well as by Stephen. We even consider next year going on vacations all together.

A Martinez belongs to your generation. In Paris, you played with Raymond Burr who, as for him, is a television "giant".

The day I was offered this role, I almost refused, being intimidated to find myself facing him I have so often watched on television on Ironside and Perry Mason. And then, after having discussed it with the Santa Barbara producers and with Stephen, I accepted. I don't regret it. I feel that I have in front of me Orson Welles, John Wayne or one of the actors as one of the Hollywood legends. Without Santa Barbara, I would not have gone until then.

Do you like Paris ?

I spent wonderful moments there. I like your culture, your restaurants. I avoid letting myself being too tempted, because I succeeded for several months to lose some weight and your food is very rich in calories. At home, and during the shootings, I satisfy myself with vegetables and grilled meat, without wine ever. The best way not to enter one of the temples in your kitchen, it's Santa Barbara. Indeed, they recognize Eden and ask me for autographs. So, I go back to the hotel !

Will you be in the United States for Christmas ?

Yes. My role in Perry Mason only took me a few days. We shot quickly ! I already think of Taylor's first Christmas. With my father, an aeronautical engineer, we had different Christmas, according to the places where we were, whether in Switzerland, in Paris or in Teheran. After his divorce, my father remarried and, when I was 8 years old, I shared the joys of Christmas with my two half-brothers. Christmas is a magical moment in a child's life. I fondly remember my first Christmas with my grandmother, in Kentucky, even if I can't remember all the details. Taylor is lucky. Christmas is quickly followed by his birthday.